‘Will’ Canceled By TNT After One Season

TNT has opted not to renew new drama series Will, which chronicled the young years of William Shakespeare to a rock music soundtrack.

The series has been in limbo following its soft premiere, which drew paltry 633,000 total viewers and a 0.16 adults 18-49 rating in Live+same day on the linear network. The drama’s viewership dropped since, fluctuating around the 300,000 L+SD total viewers mark in recent weeks. The cancellation decision comes following Will‘s season (and now series) finale last night.

TNT

Among the first buys of TNT’s new regime as part of the new programming strategy for edgier fare, Will “was a reach,” Reilly acknowledged to Deadline in July, adding, “it’s performing better than most dramas on television. … It’s performing at a level that many networks would call a hit.” Reilly later clarified that he referred to the TV universe consisting of a more than a hundred networks where Will would be considered a solid performer on most outlets.

That said, Reilly admitted that costume drama Will was an expensive show and was unsure about a renewal at the time. Regardless, “I’m proud of the show creatively, they’ve done some great work,” he said.